The new kids favourite snack?

We got this Reese's peanut butter and chocolate spread as a free sample from Influenster and it's been a bit hit with the kids.

I thought it was a bit gross when I heard about it but was pleasantly surprised as it's not to sweet. The kids however have really loved it.

It has given new life to the old staple of ants on a log, using this, celery is now popular. They've enjoyed it with carrots, crackers and in a plain old sandwich. It's also good whipped in with cream as a filling to a cookie sandwich.

Keep meaning to try it with bacon, but haven't gotten that far yet. Worth trying out and willing be getting it again for the kids.

Free Discovery Museum Fridays

This is great for anyone living in the burbs or fancying a bit of a change.

The Children's Discovery Museum in Acton.

Every Friday till the end of August, between 4:30 and 8:30pm both the Children's Museum and the Science Museum portions at the place are free.

The Children's portion is fantastic for little kids, ideally from say 2.5 up till around 6 or so as they get to play with a fake train, water tables and a giant human bubble maker as well as a diner, a jungle themed room, a boat themed room, a theatre and a host of other fun little things for kids to play around with and explore.

Then over to the Science portion, aimed at slightly older kids, but 3 year olds will still love this. There are plenty of things for all ages, especially the musical instrument and noise making activities and water based activities.

Spending the evening here is very easy to do and a lot of fun. Not as crazy busy as the time they were doing the Free Friday event for the Highland Street people, so very easy to get in, park and play. The garden area is a great spot to have a picnic if you arrive early, or just play in the huge sandpit outside if the weather is nice.

Tanglewood Marionettes - Review

Tanglewood Marionettes

So these guys, based in Ware, MA and do shows all over the state and further a field.

I most recently saw the "The Fairy Circus" performance which was held at the Strawberry Festival in Concord, MA.

I have seen them perform else where, with other shows, but this one in particular I thought was most appropriate for little toddlers and a mix range of kids. It was a lovely performance, with music and very laid back with a nice little bit of audience participation.

The performer really knew how to engage the kids as well as the parents and handled the crowd really nicely, especially when kids where getting a little too close to the stage.

After the show, the children were allowed to get a close up look of the puppets and touch them which was really nice, as they were lovely.

They have a pretty good list of free, public performances listed for the summer on their website, which if you get the chance, you should definitely check out with your family!

Ben Rudnick and Friends - Review

Ben Rudnick and Friends, the group who played at the Strawberry Festival in Concord.

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A very fun, family friendly and quirky little band with easy going music, a combination of blue grass and rock in their own original musings.

These guys seem to play all over the state and further out, but pretty much all are free concerts such as town summer green concerts, or fairs etc.

They played 3 sets of around 40 mins a piece with great music that the kids could dance around to, which was a lot of fun to see.

You have the opportunity of getting free music if you sign up to their newsletter, but also check out the samples they have of all their CD's.

At the end of each set, you could hang around and have a chat with the band and get the chance to buy their wares, which included CD's, fun tie dye t-shirts and a collection of other small things, but they really didn't put up a hard sell at all which was rather refreshing.

For a line up of coming soon events, which is listed on their site, include:-

July 11 - West Bridgewater, MA
July 12 - Newton, MA
July 13 - Boarding House Park, Lowell, MA
July 14 - North Kingston, RI
July 15 - Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, Oak Hill, NY
July 19 - Revere, MA
July 20 - Candia, NH
July 21 - Medford, MA
July 22 - Lexington, MA

So for those in Boston, there's Newton and later in the summer, Natick as well as a host of other venues you could catch these guys. Well worth keeping an eye out for!

Strawberry Fest Review

Strawberry Festival

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As mentioned last week, this happened last Saturday.

It's definitely a great event to be marked into your calendar for next year as it was a lovely, family event.

The strawberries were superb and the pick your own plentiful, as well as being very well priced at $3 a pound.

The farm also had a lovely marketstand type store where you could buy locally grown fruit and veg, which seemed to be very well priced as well. Plenty of lovely looking home made lunches boxes were available as well.

Because of the rain this time around, I don't think they had the pony rides which was a shame, but they did move the music and puppet shows into the greenhouse and there was plenty of room to enjoy them.

The one main consideration I think would be to arrive early, because even with the heavy morning rain, which had cleared out by the time this started at 11am, the place did get very busy by the time we arrived at lunchtime. There was quite a lot of parking available, but it was still a bit of a struggle to find a spot.

There also might be a bit of a struggle to use a pushchair if you had to as there might not much space to move it around easily when the shows get going and it's certainly very grassy outside.

The toilets inside were also very nice and clean and they had ample portaloos outside as well.

I'll get around to writing a review for the music and the puppet shows, which were both fantastic entertainment for everyone.

Free Fun Fridays - Family Events!!!

Highland Street have organised a Free Fun Friday for the summer, starting in July going through to the end of August.

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Details of the events are here.

Basically, every Friday, there are a bundle of museums, art exhibits, zoo's and other children's activities that will be free. There's no registration, no need to be residents of the state or county, so a great way to have fun with the family and especially if you've got guests from out of state coming for the weekend.

Some of the personal highlights over the Fridays include :

BUTTONWOOD PARK ZOO
425 Hawthorn Street – New Bedford

PLIMOTH PLANTATION

137 Warren Ave – Plymouth

THE DISCOVERY MUSEUMS
177 Main Street - Acton

FRANKLIN PARK ZOO
1 Franklin Park Rd - Dorchester

BOSTON CHILDREN'S MUSEUM
308 Congress St – Boston

STONE ZOO
149 Pond Street - Stoneham

CHILDREN'S MUSEUM IN EASTON
9 Sullivan Avenue - Easton

OLD STURBRIDGE VILLAGE
1 Old Sturbridge Village Road - Sturbridge

ECOTARIUM
222 Harrington Way - Worcester

What's nice about this, they are dotted all over the state of MA, so everyone should have the opportunity of finding something nearby as well as a few other fun day trips such as the Boston Harbour Ferries.

Family Fun - Strawberry Festival

Verrill Farm in Concord, MA

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25th June, 11am-3pm

Strawberry Festival, including ponies, hay rides, muppet shows, live music and a strawberry dessert competition.

Could be a lot of family fun for free.